Campaign against some 'pop-up' ads launched

TED BRIDISAP Technology Writer

Published Friday, November 07, 2003

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Regulators disclosed a new legal campaign Thursday against an annoying method for delivering unwanted "pop-up" Internet advertisements, accusing a California company of "high-tech extortion" in its offers for software to block the very ads it was sending.

The courtroom effort by the Federal Trade Commission could dampen some of the most irritating practices by Internet marketers, who have learned ways to display intrusive messages on computer screens using a technology built into most versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows software.

"This is a shot across the bow," said Mark Rasch, former head of the Justice Department cyber-crimes division.

The FTC obtained a temporary restraining order against D-Squared Solutions LLC of San Diego from a U.S. District Court in Baltimore. The FTC's legal papers accuse D-Squared of unlawfully exploiting Microsoft's "Windows Messenger Service" feature by sending unwanted ads to Internet users as frequently as once every 10 minutes.